2014 Draft Profile #59: Jonas Johansson

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Jonas Johansson is a goalie playing in Brynas’ system. While he played 5 games for Brynas in the SHL, he spent the majority of the season with the Brynas U20 team, playing in the Swedish J20 league. This isn’t unusual though, while many Swedish defence and forward prospects will be promoted to men’s teams at 17 and 18, the same isn’t true of goaltenders. He comes from good bloodlines, as his father, Per-Johan Johansson, played for Brynas in the SHL for 4 seasons in the 1990’s and also played in the Allsvenskan and Division 1 of Swedish hockey.

A late 1995 birthday, Johansson was just four days too old for the 2013 draft. Internationally, he played for Sweden at the 2012 Under 17 World Hockey Challenge, the 2012 Ivan Hlinka tournament, and the 2013 Under-18 World Championships, where he was named a top-3 player on the Swedish team. He was a backup at the 2014 World Junior Championships winning a silver but didn’t see any actual game time.

Jonas Johansson

Jonas Johansson has outstanding size for a goaltender, already at 6’4″. It has become the trend in recent years to draft big goalies, and with Johansson that size is certainly an asset. While he is often well positioned for a shot, he seems to play deep in his crease and doesn’t really cut down angles. Despite that he tracks the puck well and goes side to side extremely well. He also has quick legs and a very good butterfly technique. Johansson takes away the bottom of the net extremely well, however will need to work on his rebound control going forward. He has a very good glove hand that takes away the top of the net.

Johansson has good athleticism, so he recovers quickly and gets himself square to the shooter on rebound attempts. His strong skating and the fact he plays deep in his crease allow him to be very good on deke attempts, breakaways, and shootouts. Mature for his age, Johansson doesn’t let a bad goal get to him, and avoids giving up two or three quick ones in a row by dwelling on the last one. He’s also shown to be a leader for his International teams, being someone they can lean on when the pressure is on.

Johansson isn’t the type of goaltender who comes out of his crease to handle the puck, and that’s probably a good thing, as it’s not a strength for him.

Johansson’s style resembles that of Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. This is a style comparison only and not a talent one, as it’s unfair to compare any 18-year-old to a future hall of fame netminder. He’s a bit of a project and is likely several years away from the NHL but the upside here is high, and he could become a future number one if he develops properly.

Come back tomorrow to check out another prospect for the 2014 NHL Draft.